TIM ETHRIDGE: Your right to know is in jeopardy

On the day before he was inaugurated as Indiana’s 50th governor, Mike Pence shared a quote from a great president with reporters: “As Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Give the people the facts, and the republic will be saved.’”

Pence continued, “People have a right to know.”

The governor was correct, which made last week’s ruling by Vanderburgh Circuit Court Senior Judge Carl Heldt that denied the request by this newspaper, and a researcher, for access to cause of death records in Vanderburgh County all the more troubling.

I’m certainly not a lawyer, and I understand that conflicting statutes established by the Indiana Legislature over the years was the initial cause of this particular conundrum.

But to me, it comes down to a simple question: What would it hurt, and what might it help?

I understand some family members feel discomfort when the cause of death of a loved one is released.

But, as I’ve explained to folks who wondered why the Courier & Press and Rita Ward initially sought the access, there also is the question of the public good.

If, for instance, the Courier & Press database that had been maintained for nearly 10 years were to show that multiple residents of a particular neighborhood were dying of a specific cancer, wouldn’t it be good to investigate the cause? And while the hope is that the state tracks such incidents, how much do we trust a government that, in recent years, was found to have misplaced a half-billion dollars?

A bill in the works from an Indianapolis Democrat would make the causes of death contained in county health records confidential — which, if Heldt’s decision is upheld, already is the case. But that isn’t the only bill being pushed that would restrict the public’s right to know.

According to the Indiana Publisher, put out by the Hoosier State Press Association, bills are expected that would eliminate the requirement of the Department of Local Government Finance to hold public meetings before it acts on budgets, tax rates or tax levies; would allow governing bodies to hold executive sessions to discuss the potential sale of government property; and would allow drivers to petition the courts to close their driving records.

It’s all leaning in the direction of elected and appointed officials feeling they know what’s best for all of us, and we shouldn’t worry about the decisions that are made. Opponents of Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke’s administration already are beating that drum.

In the death-cause case, this newspaper had the support of Indiana’s Public Access Counselor and an earlier attorney general’s opinion. Health department administrator Gary Heck insists that the county does not “maintain” the records. But he cannot deny that the county can access the information, easily in fact, as evidenced in December when the very information being denied was sent to our newsroom by the county — and we made the decision, because the court was in deliberations, to both not run those causes of death and to not write a story about the occurrence.

In hindsight, we may have treated the process with too much respect.

So now, if Pence is serious about open government, he needs to speak up about this subject and many others. We urge our legislators to consider the public good — and urge our local governments, county and city, to quit spending our money on legal fees to keep the public out of the loop.

So far, we’ve lost our case in court. But that can be rectified by officials who truly believe in transparency and don’t simply mouth the words, or by a court that doesn’t allow the case to paddle into the muddy water of murky law and instead finds a way to offer clarity.